restless distractions
by fressamour
Summary: AU in which after Cora died, Regina wants to leave town so she can start her life over somewhere new, so she enlists the help of Rumplestiltskin. He agrees to help her if she distracts Emma long enough for him to get Neal back to Storybrooke in return. She reluctantly agrees.
1. Prologue

_**Description: **_AU in which after Cora died, Regina wants to leave town so she can start her life over somewhere new, so she enlists the help of Rumplestiltskin. He agrees to help her if she distracts Emma long enough for him to get Neal back to Storybrooke in return. She reluctantly agrees.

Eventual Swan Queen.

* * *

There would always be something distinctly alluring about wanting what she couldn't have. It was what she was designed to be. By her mother, by Rumplestiltskin, and by fate itself. She was designed to want something and fight for it, despite not truly being able to have it.

Take Snow White's head on a platter for instance.

She'd wanted the young woman dead since the moment she held a dying Daniel in her arms.

Revenge was what she'd wanted. She wanted to not only avenge Daniel's death, because she could say it was all done for him until she used up all the breath in her lungs but even she knew that was just a one-liner explanation that barely made sense to even her anymore, but what she really wanted was revenge.

Deep down to her core, Regina knew she wanted Snow White dead for taking away her happiness. Daniel was her only chance at getting away from her mother and finally being loved without consequence.

He was taken away from her.

And her mother.

And her son's love was as well something she ruthlessly fought for through his childhood. It too was taken away from her by Snow White, and her offspring.

But most importantly happiness and a sense of serenity, just as everyone else seemed to be entitled to. Regina wanted a happy ending.

She couldn't blame it on Snow anymore. Fate had designed her to live a cruel life of murder, revenge, and loneliness. Aware that she was capable of love but her son saw it saw it as overbearing. Regina felt too deeply and that had been a problem for Henry.

The things she was willing to do to protect him were things that scared him and it was obvious he would have preferred death than to be saved by her magic.

Because Emma's was good magic. Savior magic. While Regina's was evil and dark. Born from anger and betrayal while Emma's was born from happiness and love.

She couldn't blame him precisely. It was fate. Her destiny.

And now for once, Regina wanted something that no one could take away from her. She wanted out of Storybrooke.

She just needed to find a way out without losing her memory.

* * *

"Gold," she spit his name like acid on her tongue. Regina stands with her arms crossed over her chest as the man unlocks the door to his pawn shop that no one frequents anymore.

He tenses for a moment but then his shoulders slack and he turns with a smug smile. "I knew you'd come to kill me one day. Sorry, Dearie. I'm afraid today isn't the day I die."

For a second, Regina wonders if she's this annoying when she assumes everyone is out to get her. She shakes her head clear of the thought and lets her arms fall to her sides to assume a less intimidating stance. "That's not why I'm here."

"Hmm," he ponders her for a moment before resuming unlocking the door. The bell chimes and he holds it open for her. "Come on in, Dearie."

Hesitantly but determined, Regina walks through the shop's entrance. A surge of electricity runs through her and she turns to look at him appalled with wide eyes. "Did you just strip me of my magic?"

He waves her off. "Only while you're here. Don't worry, Dearie. Not even I can use my magic in this shop. Belle prefers it that way."

She rolls her eyes at the mention of his 'true love' but decides to get straight to the point. "I need to get out of Storybrooke." She says in a way that implies he owes her a favor. And maybe he does. He was the one that used her as a pawn in his scheme to find his son. A son that left the minute he realized his father was still intimidating people with the use of magic.

He owes her something.

"Ooh," his eyes grow with a disturbingly large amount of interest. "And what could you possibly want that is outside of town?"

She considers telling him the real reason; happiness. But decides it's like dangling a toy in front of a cat. He wouldn't be able to resist ruining her chance at happiness.

"I am out of some personal supplies that the local stores don't order for me anymore."

He knows it's a lie but he doesn't know what she really wants that's on the other side of the town line so he plays along. And she's aware he knows she's lying but she doesn't care as long as he helps her.

"Well unfortunately Dearie, the only way out of here comes with a price." He looks heavenly delighted in not being able to help her. "You'll lose all of your memories and considering you forgot to create an identity for yourself in the curse, who knows what could happen to you Brain damage, I presume."

She ignores his annoying smile. "There has to be a way around that. Emma and Henry left without losing their memory."

He limps around the glass display case of magical artifacts and treasuries. "Henry and Emma are the only ones that weren't cursed by you."

"You left,"

He looks at her thoughtfully. "Alright, fine. There may be a way for you to leave Storybrooke unharmed by the boundary. But are you sure a few hair products and perfume is worth it?" he baits her with a delightful gleam in his eye.

She bites her tongue. "I'm positive." She says through clenched teeth.

"There is a potion you can drink," he turns towards a large rack of herbs and potions of different colors. It's rather intriguing but she bites down her appetite for dark magic. "The taste is awful and I'm sure there are side-effects."

Regina looks at Gold with a curious eye. "How do I know I can trust you?"

He shrugs. "You have nothing that I want anymore. You are of no use to me."

It's like a shot at her self-worth. Everyone is of use to Rumplestiltskin. Everyone's destiny is intricately entangled like a cobweb. He can easily use someone to get something for someone else or himself.

It's as simple as walking across the street to ask a neighbor for a cup of sugar.

But not her. She's not useful. Her destiny no longer intrigues him. He doesn't need her anymore and something about that makes her feel disturbingly useless.

She folds her arms over her chest protectively.

Gold returns from the shelf with a vial of a red gooey mixture. "But there is something I need you to do before I can give you the potion." He says, yanking the potion out of her reach teasingly in the same way she had with the teacup all those months ago.

"And there's the real price," she mumbles to herself. "What is it?"

"Sheriff Swan seems to believe the law around here is relevant to me." His thumb strokes the side of the vial and she glares at him maliciously. "There is something I've been working on to get my son back here. Certainly the world outside of Storybrooke doesn't interest me and frankly it frightens me just a tad. However, I found that Sheriff Swan still holds a place in his heart."

Regina purses her lips thoughtfully, almost repugnant at the thought of Baelfire and Emma Swan. She's not one to care for who dates who but that was just a relationship she didn't quite understand. Most importantly she didn't understand Emma's attraction to the deadbeat.

"What does that have to do with me?"

Gold smirks as if he has a secret and she already knows he's not going to share it. "I need you distract her."

She rolls her eyes, becoming vastly impatient with the man. "You can't be serious. How am I to distract Miss Swan?"

He grins mischievously at her. "I'm sure you can think of something. After all, she is the one that grants you visitation with your son. Is she not?"

"Yes." Regina admits through gritted teeth.

"Then perhaps, you pitch an idea to her of some sort. Take Henry out of town. You're creative, Dearie. I'm sure you'll think of something." He finishes with a wink.

"And just how long am I expected to distract her?" Regina's nose wrinkles at the thought of having to spend any time with the Sheriff at all, but in the interest of seeing Henry just before she leaves for good, she considers it.

"I need three weeks." He says but she can tell right away that's just an estimate. "My plan is sure fire, however I have to take into account that my son hasn't returned to New York. He knows I'll simply go there to find him again."

She grinds her teeth.

"But don't fret, my Queen. He will return to Storybrooke with me and when he does, I'll give you the potion and you're free to leave."

"And this plan," she gestures vaguely to the shop around them. "It's nothing harmful to my son, is it? He holds a special place in Baelfire's heart just as much as Miss Swan."

Gold's usual leer hardens at the sound of his son's name coming from Regina. "Little Henry is safe." He promises, barely.

"Three weeks." She accepts with a scowl. "That's it. Any longer than that, and I will help myself to the potion with or without your permission."

"Three weeks." He agrees.


	2. Day One

_Day One:_

Emma's lacing up her roxy amhearst boots when a knock sounds at her apartment door. She finishes the second boot before getting up and going straight to the door.

"Just a second," she calls when she's a few feet away.

But her guest doesn't wait and suddenly a cloud of purple smoke is evaporating quickly and Regina is left standing in the middle of her living room.

"What the hell…" Emma looks from the former Mayor to the door then a wrinkle creases her forehead. "What are you doing here? Is Henry okay?"

At her worry, Regina rolls her eyes. "Henry's fine. I can't visit without there being immediate danger to Henry?"

"Um," Emma hesitates for a moment then finally walks over area the other woman is in. "No. Not really. Sworn enemies and all."

The brunette takes a seat on the couch. "I'm your mother's sworn enemy. I came to the conclusion I have no real issue with you. Aside from you taking my son away from me." She looks around the apartment at how utterly domesticated Emma is compared to her day the curse was broken.

"I didn't take your son-," she cuts herself off and sighs. "He's my son too and you're allowed to spend time with him whenever you want. He just doesn't want to see you."

That sends a twinge of pain straight to Regina's heart and she reconsiders her deal with Gold. "Maybe because he has me painted as the Evil Queen still. But if he saw, unfortunately with your help of course, that I'm no longer 'evil' by his definition…" she trails off because even she knows there's no use.

Henry told her she had to work for redemption but there really wasn't any. He gave her the false hope so that she wouldn't attack the Charmings when he abandoned her for them.

He knew how she reacted to being abandoned.

"So you want me to lie to him?"

Regina's faux smile hardens. "Not lie, Miss Swan. I'm not that woman from the book and I'm not who I used to be. I can admit I did a lot of bad things and I expect forgiveness is earned. But can I truly earn forgiveness when he's not there to witness it?"

Emma looks thoughtfully at her, and admittedly with doubt. But part of her, Regina sees, believes that after helping get Snow and herself back to Storybrooke Regina deserves at least one more chance.

"How are you going to prove it?" the blonde asks curiously.

"Bring him to Oxbow forest trail by four and I'll show you. Do dress appropriately for hiking, dear." Regina says before the purple smoke carries her back to wherever she came from.

Emma's left feeling as clueless as ever. "That's not an answer," she says, mostly to herself.

* * *

At 4PM, Emma exits the ugly yellow bug alone, dressed inappropriately for hiking in jeans and the boots she wore this morning, and Regina's hands fly up with exasperation.

"I thought I said with my son?" she gestures to the empty car.

"Yeah," Emma looks at her sheepishly. "When I mentioned we'd be meeting you here he suddenly remembered he had a lot of homework to do."

If she's upset by that information, she doesn't let it show to Emma. The Sheriff meets Regina by the bench dedicated to Graham.

She glares at Regina, because that's low. Even for her.

"It's not what you think," Regina admits quietly.

Emma's eyes soften a little, but she takes in what Regina's wearing. A pair of beige hiking boots, tight grey yoga pants, and a beige windbreaker to match. It's zipped up all the way just beneath her chin.

"I wanted to show him something," she says as she attaches her metallic water bottle at the hip to her windbreaker. "But, I suppose you'll do."

Regina walks up the path and while her back is turned, Emma sends a text to Ruby of her whereabouts before following Regina hesitantly.

They push through fallen leaves on the ground and Emma falls three times before they take a break. Regina steps over a log that Emma didn't even see and falls once more before entering a small clearing.

Emma winces as she sits down on a log. She's wet from falling in a creek and cold from getting wet and her ass hurts from hitting the damn rocks in that creek. Regina seems unscathed and it makes her glare at the brunette across from her who seems to be sipping her water like she's not working up a sweat but just remembered to hydrate.

"Where are we going?" Emma asks as she pulls right knee closer to her. She appraises the cuts and forming bruises. "Because I gotta tell ya, if you're taking me out here to kill me then I have back-up coming."

Regina looks like she wants to laugh. "I have no interest in harming you, Miss Swan. Henry would never forgive me." She nods to the woman's knee. "But I see you've already gotten started."

"So what are we doing out here?"

"I told you," Regina's crouching before her now, assessing the Sheriff's knees. "You'll see." She summons four packets of alcohol and two large band-aids. They wisp into her hand magically and the purple mist clears quickly.

"This is going to hurt," she says as she pours her water over Emma's knees one by one.

Emma's biting her bottom lip in anticipation. When the alcohol touches her right knee she winces but doesn't cry out. Regina dabs it expertly from years of practice with Henry.

"You're good at this." Emma compliments quietly. She winces again when the other woman presses an alcohol strip against her left knee.

"Did you suspect I was a horrible mother to Henry?" Regina's only half serious but when Emma shrugs guiltily she rolls her eyes. "I love my son, Miss Swan. I may have been a bad woman but the night I held Henry in my arms for the first time, the woman I used to be died."

"Those are pretty words Regina but it's still hard-,"

"To believe." Regina finishes for her. "I know." She says more quietly, self-consciously. She finishes patching the Sheriff up and disposes of the empty wrappers magically. "It's one more mile," she says over her shoulder as she continues walking on the path.

Emma stares at her patched knees and frowns. She's becoming more and more like her parents and it makes her hate herself a little. She pulls her jeans back over her knees and follows after Regina.

Less clumsily this time.

* * *

They come to another small clearing. Regina stops suddenly and kneels in the grass. She leans forward on her hand and uses the other to brush aside the twigs and leaves, revealing a rectangular stone in the ground.

"Even under the curse, Graham's love for the forest was immense. Especially when you came to town. He spoke of spending more time out here," she brushes the dirt off engraved stone.

Emma peaks over Regina's shoulder and reads it.

"In his Will, he asked to be buried here. His funeral was in the Storybrooke Cemetery but he wanted his body to be here."

Emma drops to her knees and palms the stone. It's cold beneath her hand.

"I can bring him back," Regina says quietly. "He may not be the Graham you knew but he'll be alive."

The blonde gulps. "What do you mean he may not be the Graham I knew?"

"Dying may have freed him from my curse," she explains to Emma patiently. As if she was talking to Henry. "I'm not entirely sure. Either way, I am risking my life by bringing him back. Graham will kill me when he returns. In this world and the other world I took something precious from him. His life."

"You killed him in the other world?" Emma whispers.

Regina nods. "I might as well have. His heart belonged to me. Literally."

"Bring him back." Emma demands as she straightens her spine. She reminds Regina of Charming. "He won't kill you. I won't let him."

The brunette scoffs. "He was a very determined Huntsman in our land. Possibly the best. It's why I hired him to kill your mother. But he had a heart and wouldn't kill an innocent human woman. He may not be so willing to forgive me simply because you have his badge now."

The badge burns at Emma's waist. "Just bring him back. If he tries to kill you then just I don't know," she gestures wildly. "Magic yourself away."

Regina scowls as if to say "fine" but conjures a small cloth pouch. "Gold and my mother neglected to teach me this as a child," she says as she opens the pouch. "I had a friend, Maleficent, that taught me just before I cast the curse. If you save the ashes of a crushed heart…" she trails off and decides to show Emma instead.

The book Emma saw Regina writing in once appears in the other woman's hands and she scribbles something in it before inhaling the words. Her eyes turn a disturbingly shade of purple.

The Sheriff falls off her knees onto her bottom in fear as she watches Regina cite the words quickly like a mantra. With wide eyes, she watches as a gust of purple wind carries the words to the ash in the former Mayor's hands and a red heart appears where the ash once was.

All traces of it are gone.

Regina smiles proudly at herself. It's the first time she's performed the spell.

"His body," Emma says, not completely over her shock at Regina's spell. "How is it going to work? He's decayed by now." It sets her on edge. It's disturbing to think of her friend as decayed after finally getting over the fact that he was dead.

"Gold has a potion that works with healing. I think it may work for a corpse."

The blonde grimaces at the word.

Regina stands; Emma does the same, and levels her hand over the grave. Suddenly the earth before them is moving and the dirt, grass, and rocks are being moved to another location. Where; Emma is unsure.

A casket is lifted and settled next to the large oblong hole Regina made in the ground.

A vial appears in Regina's hand and Emma opens the casket with her nose in her elbow. A cloud of dust escapes then dissipates, revealing Graham's decaying body.

The blonde runs off a little and vomits next to a tree.

Regina pours the yellow liquid over the bones and waits patiently for a moment, slowly becoming sick herself. The sound of Emma's upheaving makes her own stomach quiver violently.

Slowly Graham's body heals and in the casket lays a perfectly intact body.

She pushes his heart back into his chest quickly but not before his eyes snaps open and his hand is around her neck tightly.

"Miss Swan," she chokes. "Help."

From the tree, Emma looks over her shoulder and sees Graham getting out of the casket. For a moment she smiles with affectionate pride and whispers, "She did it." But the look drops from her face when she sees Graham's hold on the former Mayor's neck. "Shit," she's on her feet in seconds and running towards them.

His eyes adjust at the Sheriff's moving figure and by now the forest is getting dark.

"Graham," Emma says with her palms out in surrender. "It's me. It's Emma. Remember me?"

He nods stiffly.

"Okay. Let her go."

He shakes his head in the same manner.

Regina looks like she's about to pass out. Emma swallows thickly. "Listen, Graham. She just brought you back, okay? She wants redemption. She wants you to forgive her. Isn't that right, Regina?"

It's hard to but Regina manages a nod. "It's true. I do," she says with a small voice.

"So let her go, okay?"

He stares at Regina's face next to his but finally his hold releases and he runs off into the black forest before Emma can stop him. Regina drops to the ground with her hand on her bruised neck.

"You okay?" it's a stupid question but it's all Emma's got.

From the ground the brunette glares at her. Suddenly there's a cloud of smoke surrounding her and she's gone.

"Of freaking course," Emma throws her hands up. "She leaves me here with no idea how to get back to fucking town."

She pulls out her cell phone and uses the flashlight app to find her way back to the Oxbow trail, muttering how she should have let Graham kill the former Mayor. At least he would have stayed and she wouldn't have to walk back alone.

* * *

Emma's surprised when she finds the start of the trail and her car is parked in the makeshift dirt parking lot.

When she gets into the yellow bug, a figure moves in the backseat. She turns around with her phone, flashing the light on it. "Graham?"

"Sorry for scaring you," he says quietly. Mostly she's interested in how he beat her here.

Emma smiles at hearing his accent but doesn't say anything.

"I'm alive…" he says with more disbelief than Emma had two hours ago. "Why?"

"I told you." She shrugs. "Regina wants redemption."

He scowls at the mention of the brunette. "What have I got to do with her redemption?"

Emma doesn't know. "I'm just glad you're alive."

He shivers but nods. "I'm hungry."

She grins. "Good, me too. First, let's get you out of those smelly clothes and into something comfortable."

No one rented out Graham's apartment. Mostly because there wasn't any there to fill the vacant spot. Everyone in Storybrooke had a place to live, more or less. Emma still had the apartment key on the keyring she inherited with his job. She'd been to his apartment once and that was clean it out.

Luckily she'd ended up crying the minute she walked in the door and hadn't been able to return since. Part of her hoped some ex-lover of his would do it for her but no one ever had and she figured the only lover he'd ever had was Regina.

In his apartment, Graham takes a long much needed shower and Emma's just glad he exists again.

She waits for him in her car and calls Regina. But the former Mayor doesn't answer. In fact, it goes to voicemail after three rings which means Emma's being ignored. She makes a note to stop by the mansion on her way home after she's reacquainted Graham with Storybrooke.

Graham returns in a plaid shirt and jeans.

At Granny's, Emma watches him scarf down four burgers and five glasses of Coke. There's a crowd around them, everyone listening to what it was like in Purgatory.

"It was like a dream," Graham says as he chews his food. "I was in the forest with the wolves. I was happy."

She noticed the way Ruby watched him dreamily and made a note to reintroduce them to each other.

But by the fifth burger the crowd, except for Ruby, had gone back to their lives. Having seen stranger things in the old land apparently.

"Here's your check," Ruby says as she hands Emma the small black binder.

Graham smiles at her warmly.

Emma stashes a few bills, and a tip, into the binder and hands it to Ruby on their way out. She practically has to pull Graham away from the waitress.

Part of her is jealous. They were in the middle of something when he died. But he had nearly a year to get over her in Purgatory.

"Henry would be glad to see you," she says as they leave the diner. She's mostly doing it because the kid _would_ like to see him but also because she said she'd help Regina and the first thing she plans to do is tell Henry this is all Regina's doing.

* * *

Henry's in the middle living room at the coffee table doing his homework while an Avengers cartoon plays on the TV.

He's off the floor when Emma opens the door and she hears a sigh of relief from the kitchen.

"I thought Mom killed you," Henry says seriously.

Her heart drops. He's really afraid of his mom. "No, kid. We went for a hike. And," she steps aside to reveal Graham behind her.

She's never seen someone's face switch from worry to extreme happiness so quickly and it reminds her of the time Mary Margaret finally saw her as Emma her daughter and not Emma her roommate.

Henry's arms are around the former Sheriff instantly.

In the kitchen something drops and Emma hears a gasp. "Graham," Mary Margaret says quietly. "You're alive."

"How?" David demands in his usually heroic way. It's kind of annoying, Emma thinks.

"Regina," she explains.

They all look at her in disbelief.

"She brought him back."

"It's true." Graham says, returning Henry's long hug.

"Why?" David and Henry ask at the same time.

Her kid's developing a Charming complex. She sighs as she shrugs out of her jacket. "She just wanted to do a good thing, kid." His curiosity doesn't wane. In fact, she thinks she's made it worse.

In the kitchen, Emma pours Graham and herself a cup of coffee. "Really, why?" David asks quiet enough that Henry doesn't hear with a deadpan expression.

"She wants redemption," the Sheriff says.

While David scoffs, Mary Margaret seems to believe Emma. Maybe it's because Emma knows when she's being lied to and after that thing with Archie's fake death, she's learned to trust when Emma believes Regina.

"Really. She thought he was going to kill her and he actually tried. But she still did it."

"She must have an ulterior motive," David looks thoughtfully determined. "Maybe this is a distraction."

"Or," Graham says as he enters the kitchen and the conversation with the same whisper as them. "She doesn't want to be the Evil Queen anymore."

David looks at Graham respectfully.

Emma slides Graham his coffee and he sips it excitedly. He continues after a moment.

"Look, I know Regina. More intimately than most people. She's a determined woman. She has no need to hide her plans from anyone because once she sets her mind to it, there's not a lot any of us can do to stop her. When I saw her face, aside from the fear, she looked genuinely remorseful. That's not an emotion a lot of people can fake. Even in the face of death. If she has an ulterior motive, whatever she's planning to do, bringing me back may have been a mistake. That's one more person to stop her."

"The point is, when I tried to kill her she could have ripped my heart out of my chest again. She was close enough to do it."

Quietness spreads across the apartment and Emma doesn't have to look at Henry to know he'd heard that.

After a while though, her son dives animatedly into how he got Emma to break the curse and what's happened after that.

When he gets to the part about the Wraith, Emma grabs her keys and coat and quietly exits into the pouring rain.

* * *

When Regina answers the door her hair is wet around her shoulders and there's no trace that Graham even touched her.

Emma's so taken aback at the bareness of Regina's face she forgets how to speak. She can admit that Regina's an attractive woman but until now she'd only seen the former Mayor in make-up.

But even scrubbed free of eye-liner and that red lipstick Regina loves, she still looks breathtakingly beautiful.

"Thanks," Emma finally says. "For bringing him back."

Regina only nods modestly.

"Henry's really happy. He wants to stay the weekend at Graham's. If that's okay with you, of course…" Something feels right about asking her.

"It's fine." Regina says in a hoarse voice but Emma can tell she doesn't really believe so. "If that's all…"

"I was thinking we could have dinner? You, me, and Henry? Monday night?"

Regina wants to say no. Not to dinner with Henry but dinner with Emma. She's had enough of the blonde, really. But she nods anyway. Although she already plans on interrupting the blonde at the station tomorrow with some bogus story to get her out of town again.

"Goodbye Miss Swan." She says before trying to close the door.

Emma stops it with her boot. With her hands shoved in her pockets she smiles sheepishly at Regina. "Goodnight, Regina." She turns on her heel with a grin and walks happily back to her car. If Regina wants redemption, Emma decides, she's going to do her damned best to help her achieve it.

* * *

**A/N**: Hate to be the author that begs for reviews...but pleaseeeeeee? I never know anyone is actually reading my stories or if I'm just writing for nothing.


	3. Day Two

_Day Two:_

"What is _she_ doing here?" Jokal, one of the ogres, hisses from the inside of the large cabin just outside the forest.

"I understand you want me dead." Regina says with her palms out, cautiously stepping through the threshold. "But I have some information on your missing youngest brother Nikola."

The pack of ogres looks at her suspiciously but willing to hear whatever she has to say. One of them close the door behind her and Regina looks over her shoulder only slightly disturbed.

Some ogres are like werewolves. Except, they have complete control over their transformation. While some ogres are like regular wolves and are just naturally aggressive and cannot transform to a more acceptable size.

Henry's large book neglected to mention that the Kyran pack of ogres only attack when threatened. They were actually of much use to Regina when her kingdom was under attack. They could be great warriors if people got over their irrational fear of them, especially _working_ with them.

Jokal is the eldest Kyran. His red hair and grey eyes makes him the most unique. All the rest have sandy brown hair and blue eyes but Jokal is gifted with the power of premonition.

He stands before Regina, the size of a large man. "Where is our brother?"

The others grunt intimidatingly but Regina has a complicated past with Jokal. He doesn't want to hurt her as much as his brothers think he does.

"During the curse, I cast him into the forest." She says. "I have a map and I am prepared to help guide you. I've resurrected the Huntsman and I'm sure he'll be delighted to help if the Sheriff asks him to."

"Why should we trust you?" Jokal's broad shoulders hide her view from the other ogres and she feels her self-preservation kick in at being outnumbered.

"I want redemption." She admits for what feels like the umpteenth time.

She continues more confidently when his face softens. "Jokal, I can help you find your brother if you'd let me. You are obviously much larger than me even in human form. My magic barely works on you. If you sense I'm betraying you, you have the power and force to kill me instantly. I want my son to view me as his mother again."

He looks at her in contemplation before finally grunting in accordance.

The rest of the pack nod to their eldest brother in respect but glare at her unkindly.

"If you betray us, Queen. I will squash you." Jaxon, the second youngest, threatens around a mouthful of breakfast.

Regina barely flinches, despite him being menacingly close to her.

* * *

Emma's not sure why she still does paperwork when there's no real Mayor to review it. But something about it gives her some semblance of normality and she finds that she desperately needs that now. It's the only reason she's not hitting the bottle as hard as she usually would.

Aside from the fact she has Henry to take care of now too.

Learning about all this magic stuff and that her parents actually wanted her hasn't been the easiest thing to come to terms with.

Being transported to a world she supposedly comes from was even harder to cope with afterwards.

Learning that Neal knew who she was and could have helped her find her parents and break the curse a lot sooner was probably the hardest. She loved him. In fact, up until meeting Henry and Mary Margaret, Neal was the only person she'd ever loved in her life.

She still feels betrayed by him. Not only by taking the fall for their crimes, but being left alone to figure all this stuff out when she could have had help.

The familiar clack of Regina's heels fills the station and Emma's head snaps up from her paperwork. Behind Regina, Emma recognizes, are the construction workers.

A group of men she's never saw really build anything, especially before the curse was broken. Most of them look like they should be in college.

Regina turns and whispers something to largest one and he nods. She continues to Emma's desk alone while the men sit awkwardly in the too small chairs of the waiting area.

Emma tries not to laugh.

"Sheriff," Regina tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "I believe your services are needed."

The blonde quirks an eyebrow. "How so?"

"The Kyran brothers are looking for their lost brother, Nikola. I've yet to see him return to town from the forest."

"Oh god," Emma deflates in her chair. "Don't tell me you killed him too?"

Regina manages a 'fuck off' smile and perches herself on the corner of the Sheriff's cluttered desk. "Fortunately, I spared his life. Though I did like him the least. I cast him into the woods. His kind is just as resourceful as wolves and other forest creatures. However, he may have gone over the town boundary deeper into the forest. That is where you are especially required."

"Because I can leave town," Emma states obviously.

Regina resists the urge to roll her eyes. "Precisely."

"Okay," she grabs her jacket from the back of her chair as she stands.

"There's something else…" Regina says without moving from the desk yet. She looks purposely sexy if you ask Emma, almost like she wants to seduce her into doing this. Emma's not sure if that's because Regina can't turn that habit off when asking for a favor or if she's really trying to seduce her.

"I need Graham."

Well that extinguishes any thoughts of her being sexy to seduce her.

The blonde laughs out loud but then sobers quickly when the brunette only looks at her earnestly with a deadpan look. "You're serious?"

"No one knows the forest better than him. I'm sure he'll be able to keep us from getting lost. We're going to have to go off trail, Miss Swan."

"Regina you freaking killed the guy. I don't think he's over that."

She waves her hand dismissively. "This isn't about me. I can get over him strangling me for the day in the interest of reconnecting this family with their brother. I'm sure Graham can do the same."

"You're asking for a lot, you know." Emma says with frustration as she walks towards the ogres. But it's not a 'No' so Regina smirks before following the Sheriff.

* * *

"No way," Henry says from the kitchen of Graham's apartment. "Absolutely not. This is a trap. She's going to kill you all."

Emma silences him with a look. "Graham, I talked to Jokal and he said his brother really is missing. I know you don't owe anyone anything but…"

"I'll do it." He agrees with a shrug.

Henry groans loudly from the kitchen.

"Listen lad," he turns to the young boy. "Your mom has done a lot of bad things but she's finally doing good things. Even if it's in the interest of evil. There's no way we're letting her cause more harm to this town again. But in the meantime if she wants to help some people out, it'd be kind of evil of us to protest."

Henry gives him an unsmiling look of doubt. "Just watch your back." He advises quietly. "You too." He says to Emma.

She nods as if she's been given an order. "Got it."

* * *

Graham's been giving Regina curious glances the entire walk to one of the forest entrances. They're not malicious in any way which actually kind of bothers Emma. How can he be so forgiving when she freaking killed him?

And Emma thinks the former Mayor is being nice enough not to look annoyed by the looks.

The former Queen uses magic to change her clothes quickly from her tight red dress and heels to a similar outfit as yesterday.

She points to a map and the large brothers are standing behind her looking over her shoulder as she explains exactly where he was dropped in the curse. Emma watches as she explains that he will most definitely have left that spot since then but that's the general area they should search first.

She offers to magic them all there but Graham speaks to her then. "I would rather we walk," he says after clearing his throat. "He could be anywhere in this forest. Starting from here gives us the opportunity to learn what the forest is like."

Regina nods as if she respects his professional opinion and puts the map into her pocket. Emma stands next to the former Mayor then suddenly feeling the urge to protect Regina from the glares the outsized men are giving her.

"After you," the former Queen says to Graham.

Before he moves however, the large men suddenly transform into enormous versions of themselves. It happens so quickly that Emma's eyes are wide with fear and she's pointing her gun at them, not sure which one she's going to shoot first.

"What the hell!" She says out the side of her mouth to Regina for an explanation, not wanting to take her eyes off the huge beasts. She's pointing the gun at Jokal's left eye and he looks the least bit concerned.

"It's okay Miss Swan." Regina's hand is on her wrist, lowering the gun slowly. "They're just ogres."

"I had my share of run-ins with those beasts." She grimaces from the memory of the ogre from the Enchanted Forest. "He was going to kill me!"

"They're different." Regina whispers in her ear as she takes the gun away. The ogres turn to the forest and enter behind an unsurprised Graham; Emma shoots him a glare behind his back, as their retreating figures leave the two women behind.

"They won't harm you. They may harm me but you're safe." Regina promises.

The Sheriff isn't entirely persuaded but enough to allow Regina to put her gun back into her holster for her. "You could have told me."

The former Mayor looks at her apologetically. "I forgot you didn't know. Truly, I'm sorry." And truly she is. "We should catch up."

* * *

The ogres have no trouble getting through the thick trees while Emma feels like she's back in the Enchanted Forest and completely inexperienced to her surroundings.

Regina's nice enough to hold the branches out her face this time as opposed to yesterday when she didn't mind if they whacked Emma right in the face.

"I found something!" Graham calls just about fifty feet ahead of them. They've gone a mile off the Rakoa trail and now they're travelling downhill. It's kind of embarrassing how much Emma keeps falling.

Even Regina tries to pretend she doesn't notice it while leaving Emma behind to pick herself up with dignity.

"He's transformed recently," Jokal says in a voice that sounds like he has a lot of syrup in his mouth. He kneels down on one knee to inspect the large footprint that's obviously one of an ogre. "I wonder…"

Graham nods to him knowledgeably, seeming to have read his mind. "Two with me. Two with them. And…"

"Me and Jaxon." He claps a hand on his younger brother's back.

"What's going on?" Emma whispers out the side of her mouth to Regina.

"They want to split up." She explains patiently, turning her back to Graham and the rest and facing Emma. "If we take two ogres, it'll be easier to communicate. In this form, they have the opportunity to interconnect through their thought with one another. Should one group find Nikola, we would all know. It's rather fascinating."

The way her brown eyes are lit, Emma can tell Regina's captivated by the large creatures. It's kind of cute, she thinks.

"Who's going with whom?" Regina finally turns back to Jokal and Graham.

Jokal answers before Graham can. "I don't trust Cyras alone with you. He holds a lot of anger for you still."

One of the ogres looks insulted and Emma puts together that that's Cyras.

"Mollock and Pero are the least of your worries," he continues casually as if discussing who'll carpool with whom. "They'll stay with you."

"That means the others are with me." Graham says as he stands. Two of the ogres, including Cyras with his shoulders sagging, follow Graham west into the forest.

"You don't have to like it!" Jokal responds to an unheard thought from the parting ogres.

Regina rolls her eyes.

"You're with me, Miss Swan." She turns and heads east.

Mollock and Pero, who honestly seem the smallest to Emma, follow behind Regina wordlessly. She takes a moment to stay back and turns to Jokal.

"You trust her?" she asks quietly, shoving her freezing hands into her pockets. She should have grabbed the gloves on her desk but she didn't think they'd be out here this long.

He shrugs. "I want to find my brother and she's our only choice right now. I don't have to trust her. I just have to trust that my brother will find his way back to us."

"You seem willing to receive her help, though. And your brothers look at you like you're an idiot cause of it." She admits unashamedly and Jaxon chuckles from by a tree a few feet away. He's picking cherries off and eating them.

"Regina and I have a unique history with one another. A history my brothers don't yet understand. I'm hesitant to believe she's as evil as Queen Snow claims when Queen Regina has saved my life relentlessly."

She feels like she's not getting the entire story and that sends a pang of jealousy up her spine but she ignores it. "I just hope you're right." She says before running to catch up with Regina and the giants.

"You _are_ an idiot," Emma hears Jaxon say to his brother.

* * *

It's been three hours and Emma's starving and tired and can barely see straight. They've taken three breaks and have yet to find another clue of Nikola's presence in their section of the forest. Regina just follows the ogres tolerantly, trusting they know what they're doing even though they could be leading her to her death.

Finally, Emma collapses on a fallen tree and finds she can't get back up this time.

Regina is the first to notice after glancing over her shoulder to see how far away Emma is. She uses her thumbs to whistle at the ogres and they turn with slowed movement. She points to her watch, signaling another break.

Magically, Regina conjures a large cloth sack and the ogres transform back to human size. They're naked now but the former Mayor doesn't seem to notice as she hands them each their fruit from the sack.

Emma watches as Regina touches Mollock's shoulder. She's saying something to them that Emma can't hear but they nod and turn with arms full of fruit.

Regina turns to her looking more patient than Emma's ever seen her look at her. She sits next to Emma on the log and hands her an orange.

Emma wonders if the other woman's aware that she wouldn't have taken an apple from her.

"Thanks," she says as she begins peeling the orange. "What'd you tell them?"

"It doesn't matter." The brunette says before biting into an apple. "They say their brothers have found another footprint. I told them when we're done eating; I'll try a spell that will hopefully locate where Nikola frequents the most." Emma knows that's not all she told them but she doesn't pry.

"Why can't you just poof yourself to him?"

"My magic barely works on ogres," she hands Emma her water bottle from yesterday. "Drink." She instructs before taking another bite of her apple. Emma does so without protest. "It's why Jokal allowed me to help him. I can hardly double cross them when they're so much larger than me and I'm defenseless."

Emma pulls her knees to her chest and rests her elbows on them. "He said you two have a unique past. What's that about?" she doesn't care if she sounds like she's nosy. She's interested.

Regina smiles nostalgically. "Ogres age differently than other creatures. While they possess the forms of grown men, they have looked the same age for a hundred years. Mentally, all of them but Jokal are still teenagers. When I met them, I was fifteen and Jokal looked like he was in his late twenties but he was simply nineteen. At a certain age, their bodies stop growing. Anyways,"

"I'd run away from my mother. I fell and hit my head and Jokal found me. He took me back to his home and his brothers had never seen a woman other than their mother before. They were fascinated by me. I told him I was running from Cora; she was the original Evil Queen. I hadn't told him I was her daughter. But a slave."

She looks regretful at that and Emma wants to ask her so many more questions. Like, what the hell did Cora do to her?

"He kept me from my mother for six months. It was the most liberating time of my life. Until my mother put up flyers to find me. Cyras and I were walking in the forest to collect dinner when my mother's knights arrested him. I escaped but my mother tortured him," her eyes fall shamefully to the ground.

"She tortured him to find me. Jokal still hadn't known my relation to my mother. He wanted to raid the castle and take his brother back while still protecting me. I gave myself up willingly. Cyras he-he looked at me as if I was her. As if I was Cora. I assume he told Jokal and his brothers the truth about me. When I escaped again, I went to their home. They didn't open the door to me."

There's a silence between them and mostly Emma pities Regina. She knows if she says anything about it, the former Queen's mood will change drastically.

"That's why he doesn't see you as the Evil Queen?"

Regina nods. "They think I'm manipulative, which I am. I suppose I did manipulate them when I was younger. It was unintentional. Much like your mother however, the Kyran brothers knew me before I was considered evil. Jokal was like a surrogate brother to me. All of them were but he and I bonded the most. Our mothers were strict and wanted a specific life for us. Lives we hadn't chosen for ourselves."

"Lives they emotionally, mentally, and physically prepared us for against our will. You see his brothers were taught to listen to him and that's all. But the oldest ogre of a clan, they suffer. They have no childhood. No liberation. All Jokal has known is taking care of his brothers and making his mother happy."

"After I became Queen, Jokal was captured by your grandfather for having been too close to the castle. He'd heard I'd married and I believe he wanted to check in on me. I distracted the guards long enough to free him. His punishment would have been death."

"That's a little harsh," Emma says around a mouthful of orange slices. "Couldn't they have let him off with a warning?"

"Our land was so afraid of animals they couldn't understand that any crime they committed that could be forgivable for a human was punished by death. They didn't want to take any chances."

"Sounds a lot like Republicans," Emma jokes.

Regina looks away to hide her smile.

"Maleficent thought Jokal could help protect her castle with his gift of premonitions. If he could see danger to her castle, he was to eliminate it immediately. I talked her into using another creature instead. Jokal and I would see one another secretly. His brothers were oblivious to our meetings and I didn't want my husband to know. When Leopold was killed Jokal knew I had a hand in it and stopped meeting me. It wasn't until Maleficent that I saw him again. He could barely look at me but when he did it was full of appreciation."

"In return for saving him from slavery, he used his sight to help me. He told me there would be a little boy that I would love more than life itself. If he knew I would cast the curse, he didn't share it with me."

"I respect him a lot. Including him the curse was very difficult for me. But I think he's grateful to me in a way. For thirty years he was able to forget his responsibilities and enjoy his life for himself. So I suppose that makes our relationship unique. He knows he's supposed to hate me but he doesn't."

Emma opens her mouth to say something but she's interrupted by Pero running goofily towards them.

"They've found him!" He says running back in ogre form to join her and Regina. "Graham found him."

Regina nods with respite at Pero as she tugs on her windbreaker to straighten it. "My work here is done." She says to Emma. "They'll help you get back to town." Before Emma can protest, Regina's gone and all that's left is a cloud of purple smoke and the smell of lavender and jasmine.

* * *

"Thanks for doing this," Emma says to Graham as they walk back to his apartment in a sudden downpour of rain. It doesn't seem to bother either of them.

They'd said goodbye to the Kyran clan. The ogres decided to stay in the forest for now, considering Nikola was too afraid to leave. "Like I said earlier, you don't owe anyone anything."

"It was fun." He admits with a shy smile. He rounds on her and she stops awkwardly, almost running into him. "I want to come back to the station."

"Really?"

He nods. "I liked helping them. I can be the deputy."

"David's the deputy," she frowns apologetically.

"There can be two. I want to work at the station again, Emma. And you're kind of out of your depth."

She laughs a little. "You're right about that. I guess I could use your expertise again. Anyways, I gotta get back to Regina's to I guess debrief her. If you're tired of the kid, let me know and I'll have Mary Margaret go get him."

"Back to Regina's?" Graham tilts his head questioningly. "Are you two…?" he makes an awkward gesture while his hands are stuffed in his jacket pocket.

"Us?" she throws her head back in laughter. "Me and Regina? God no way. She hates me."

"So if she didn't hate you?"

"If she didn't hate me and she hadn't cursed an entire land of people, then maybe." She shrugs. "But under these circumstances, hell no." Graham looks at her like he doesn't believe her which really annoys her but she starts jogging back to the station to retrieve her car.

"See you tomorrow at the station!" she calls over her shoulder.

* * *

When Regina answers her door tonight, she looks disappointed to see Emma standing in muddy shoes and wet clothes from having walked in the rain.

Her nose wrinkles and she looks more dissatisfied than disgusted.

"Hey," Emma smiles breathlessly. "The ogres stayed in the forest."

"I figured they would." She leans against the heavy door, showing no signs of inviting Emma in to dry off.

"And Graham wants to come back to the station." Emma doesn't know why Regina would want to know that but she tells her anyway. "It'll be weird, yeah? Having him as my deputy…"

The former Queen nods understandingly.

"And I'll call Henry to let him know this was all your doing."

"Not necessary," Regina says, finally putting some effort into the conversation. "It was Graham's. He found Nikola."

"They wouldn't if it hadn't been for you."

"Eventually Jokal would have come to me," she shrugs as if it's unimportant. "However, I do appreciate your effort, Miss Swan. You were of much help to me today."

"Really?" Emma snorts. "Because I feel like I just slowed everyone down."

"You underestimate the influence of your presence. Graham is still very angry with me but every time he looked at me, you were in the same three foot vicinity of me and your existence Miss Swan is like putting water over a fire. You can persuade an entire crowd just with your smile alone."

Feeling insecure, Emma rubs the back of her neck and kicks her boot against the threshold of the door. "Thanks," she smiles awkwardly.

"You're the product of true love. I'd expect nothing less." Regina shrugs. "Tomorrow I wish to return Kathryn her heart and apologize to her. I'd hoped you could join me?"

The Sheriff looks contemplative for a moment before nodding. "Graham can keep an eye on things at the station. What time should we meet?"

"Here at 8 AM?"

"Okay," Emma nods. "See you then."

Regina's already closing the door. When she turns around to her foyer, Gold is standing smirking arrogantly at her. She barely looks surprised as she walks around him.

"You have done an excellent job of keeping the Sheriff distracted," he says as follows her to her study. "What's your secret, Dearie?"

Regina swallows a gulp of cider and frowns at the fire. The heat is licking her skin. "Patience." She explains tiredly.

"And this redemption excuse? It's a ruse, I assume?"

She nods as she takes another gulp of cider.

"Hmm," he walks around to pour himself a tumbler of cider. "Keep this up and it may not take as long as three weeks." It's a compliment from Gold, she knows it. She smiles behind her tumbler but doesn't say anything else.

They sit in what she considers an uncomfortable silence, downing the cider down before he leaves to get home to Belle and she moves to something heavier. She's not very good with apologizing, especially when she knows it's a futile effort.

Kathryn will never forgive her but the thing is, Regina doesn't actually need her to. She just needs to use Kathryn's unwillingness to forgive as a long enough distraction.

* * *

_**A/N**_: I guess not a whole lot of people are interested in this story so I'm going to just finish it quickly. Roughly was going to do a chapter for each day that would have came up to about 22 or 23 chapters but I'll probably shorten it and not go into so much detail about the days to fit more days into one chapter. Idk. Review if you'd like, I guess. Doesn't matter a whole lot.


	4. Day Three

**A/N**: There might be errors but I promise to have them fixed by the end of the night.

_See end of chapter for notes, please._

* * *

_Day Three:_

Regina's hand touches the cold tile of her bathroom and it's firm beneath her palm. She needs firm. Firm keeps her grounded.

As opposed to the feel of the hot running water slipping through her fingertips that remind her she isn't as invincible as she thought herself to be.

Now that her mother is dead, Regina considers herself to be in the league for most powerful practitioners of magic and yet she feels still feels so vulnerable and weak. Cora was the monster she didn't fear was under her bed as a child, but knew was on the other side of her bedroom door. She was, after all the times Regina had tried herself, indestructible. And yet all it took was a few words of encouragement from Snow fucking White and she was able to put her mother's cursed heart back into her chest and kill her.

As she exits the shower, she gets a feeling like the one when you're waiting for the next hiccup to occur and she just wants to be on the other side of the boundary so desperately.

In the kitchen now and fully dressed in what she usually wore as Mayor, Regina pours herself a cup of coffee. She considers one for Emma as well but decides against it.

That would give off the impression that something about their relationship was friendly.

She grimaces at the thought. A relationship. With Miss Swan? Absolutely nauseating.

At the dining room table, Regina sits, waiting patiently for the woman in question. She pulls back the sleeve of her crisp white shirt and checks her watch once more. The Sheriff is running fifteen minutes late and that already makes her skin crawl.

As she pulls out her cell phone to call the woman, her doorbell sounds throughout the large and mostly empty house. The echo, quieter than its predecessor, makes her feel even more ready to flee town as soon as Gold has succeeded his plan.

"You're late," Regina says to Emma once she opens the door.

The blonde's hair is wet from what Regina can tell is the rain's doing. It's pouring almost abusively down on the streets of Storybrooke.

With her wrinkled forehead, Emma looks at Regina guiltily with pleading blue eyes. "I know, I'm sorry. My bug broke down and David's using the cruiser to fill Graham in."

"Come in," Regina sighs as she moves aside to make room in the threshold for the other woman. "Do not track water into my house, Miss Swan. Please remove your coat."

Emma does as she's told without much protest but a look of annoyance towards the former Mayor. She's shivering so Regina guides her into the living room and sits her before the already lit fireplace.

"You could have called to reschedule," Regina says as she hands Emma her coffee in her hands. The Sheriff looks at her hesitantly before accepting the coffee mug and sipping from it with shaky fingers.

"I know but this seems important to you." She says to the empty living room. "Regina?" she looks around but the brunette has vanished. Emma thinks for a moment she may have gone to Kathryn's alone but when she appears from around the wall separating the kitchen and the living room, Emma lets out an inaudible sigh of relief at not being abandoned in the large house by Regina.

"These should fit you," Regina says as she hands Emma a pair of jeans.

Emma looks at her with a crookedly smug smile that Regina finds annoyingly attractive and endearing. "I didn't think you owned a pair of jeans."

"Yes well," the brunette purses her lips for a moment. "There many things you don't know about me. I'll find you a shirt upstairs in just a moment." She's crouching before the fire and poking at it to keep it going.

Emma watches the other woman stroke the fire with determination. Regina does everything with determination. That's what's so intimidating about her. But it's also such an endearing quality about her, Emma finds.

The way she loves Henry and wants to still be present in his life even though he has expressed his detestation of her.

The way she doesn't let the abhorring looks or not-so-quiet mean words whispered whenever she's around get to her.

The fact that she's not as emotionally and mentally damaged as she should be with a mother like Cora.

Most people spend their lives trying to fix with their parents broke within them. But Regina spent her own motherhood trying not to do the same thing to Henry.

It's honorable, Emma thinks.

But she doesn't even realize she's alone again until Regina's returning with the blue crisp shirt they've irksomely shared between them.

Except now when there's no "he's my son" argument between them, Emma allows herself to smile privately because she knows it's Regina's idea of being funny. It's almost like an inside joke between them.

"I do hope you'll return it," she says when Emma stands to go change.

"I don't know. Maybe I love being wrapped in the smell of you." She says it jokingly but after the words leave her mouth she finds that she may have been more serious than she thought. Regina looks annoyed that she would even make a joke about that and Emma's just glad she wasn't taken as seriously as she was.

* * *

Kathryn slams the door in Regina's face the first time. The second time Frederick answers the door and tells them to go away. The third time, Regina uses her foot to stop the door from closing in her face because even Emma feels embarrassed at having it closed on them one too many times.

"Listen dear," the former Mayor says with a disturbingly convincing amount of sincerity lacing her silky voice. "I understand you might hate me but I've come to make amends."

"Leave." Kathryn demands, eyeing Regina straight on. It's intense the way she looks at Regina and doesn't back down. Not a lot of people do that. Even though pretty much everyone hates her, Emma sees that unless in a crowd, the entire town is still afraid of what Regina can do.

And they have the right to be.

Emma hasn't seen Regina use her magic defensively but she's been on the receiving end of a punch from the former Mayor and the way Regina can take a punch is actually quite frightening in Emma's opinion.

She can only assume that Regina's fury combined with magic means trouble for everyone.

"Listen, Kathryn…" Emma steps in before Regina talk again. "I know what she did to you was fucked up. Trust me; I understand that you don't want to even see her face. I mean, she doesn't even deserve forgiveness for what she's put you and Frederick through."

"I'm sorry dear, are you supposed to be helping me?" Regina glares from her side.

Emma frowns. "Right, sorry. But anyways, can you just hear her out? You don't have to buy the bullshit she's selling. Just entertain her a little. She'll feel better that she apologized and deep down you will too. Cause, I know she's sorry but she just doesn't know how sorry she is. So just listen to what she has to say and we'll be on our way."

The other blonde glares at Regina thoughtfully for what feels like hours. Emma's own stomach fumbles nervously in her belly. "She can say it here. I do not want her in my home." Kathryn finally says.

"That'll do." Emma agrees quickly. "So…Regina…go ahead."

The former Queen looks aggravated at being put on the spot but quickly words begin to fall out of her mouth whether she means them or not is a mystery to Emma and it kind of bothers her that she can't tell if the woman is lying.

"What I did was atrocious. You were my friend, under a curse or not, and I enjoyed your friendship. I was bitter and selfish and secretive and you still wanted to be my friend."

Ever since the curse broke, Emma hasn't been able to tell if someone's lying or not. She relies on what her parents have been telling her and that clouds her judgment. She thinks, though it doesn't do her any good now, that if she'd just worked the Archie case alone she probably would have come to the conclusion that Regina was somehow telling the truth.

Maybe if she didn't have her father working for her at the station, she'd be able to get a lot of things done without him in her ear telling her who's bad and who's good. Because this isn't the old land. There is no officially declared evil or good by Queen Snow anymore.

There are records and since Regina's was completely clean, legally anyway, she should have treated her like a person of interest and not a suspect.

"It's completely understandable if you do not wish to forgive me. I suspect you won't but I need you to understand how sorry I truly am." Regina's voice breaks on the last word and both Emma and Kathryn wordlessly pity her.

"Anyways," she says, shaking her head to clear it. "I thought I could return this to you." Of course, the heart is conjured magically in Regina's gloved palm. "I trust that you are hesitant to let me return it to your chest; however the Blue Fairy is far more experienced in this area than she lets on. Go to her and she'll help you."

Hesitantly, Kathryn takes the heart from Regina's hand with caution. "How will I know if it's even mine?"

"Blue will confirm it." The former Queen turns on her heel and walks away. Behind her, Emma follows wordlessly until they get into the car.

* * *

At the diner, Regina's smiling softly to herself as she stirs the coffee Emma promised wasn't poisoned by Ruby. It's a smile of comfort like maybe for a second her son doesn't hate her, her mother and father aren't dead, and everyone in town doesn't look at her like she has a target on her back.

For a moment she looks normal.

"What are you smiling at?" Emma asks, wanting to be in on the joke.

"Nothing Miss Swan," Regina's smile falls from her lips and there's no hint it was ever there now. The Sheriff looks at her guiltily before slurping her hot chocolate.

"My god, you're just like our son." The former Mayor says with annoyance lacing her tone in a voice that's supposed to sound judgmental and disapproving but Emma is smiling at her happily. "What are you smiling at?"

"You called him _our_ son." She answers simply.

"Hmm," Regina ponders that. "I suppose I did." They finish their breakfast in an oddly comfortable silence before Emma receives a text message from David.

With her phone facing her, Emma reads the words aloud. "Who's Maliki Koning?"

"What?"

"David says he's a lion again."

Regina turns Emma's phone away from her and reads the words for herself with narrow eyes. "That's his curse name."

"Well who was he?"

"Mufasa."

* * *

When they arrive on scene, which is at the clock tower, surprisingly Regina's the first one to take charge. "What the hell happened?" she demands to David who has his arms stretched and palms out at the fierce lion that looks like he's ready to attack.

David rolls his eyes at Regina. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"That's not important, Charming. What the hell did you do?"

The deputy drops his arms. "You assume this is my fault? How do I know this isn't your doing to distract us?"

Regina smirks at his idiocy and she even hears Emma slap a hand over her face behind her. "Well I wouldn't be here if I wanted your attention off of me."

"She's here to help," the Sheriff provides. "Besides, I was with her all morning she couldn't possibly have had anything to do with this."

David's eyes grow wide at that information.

Emma doesn't have the time to even guess what he thought she meant so she gestures back to the lion. "What happened?"

"After you and Mary Margaret went to the Enchanted Forest, Maliki came to me. He said he was looking for his son but the dwarves and I looked and we couldn't find him. We had a lot on our plates already-,"

Regina looks at him incredulously. "Are you telling me there is a child missing and you're just now circling back to that information?"

"We were trying to help Henry if you don't remember!" He responds with a loud voice, not appreciative of Regina's insinuation. "Besides, he wouldn't have lost his son if you hadn't cursed the entire damn land and then some."

"Simba missing has nothing to do with me."

Emma turns Regina towards her. "Isn't Mufasa supposed to be…you know…dead and all?"

"Referring to Disney movies are we again, Miss Swan?"

The blonde half-shrugs a little self-consciously.

The brunette sighs with aggravation. "No. Sarabi was killed by Scar. Simba was kidnapped and told that his father and mother were dead and if he returned, he too would die. With the Queen and his son gone, Mufasa was far too depressed to rule anything. Scar convinced Mufasa to step down and hand power of the kingdom to him."

Suddenly Regina goes closer to Mufasa and Emma's not the only one looking at her like she's crazy. "You saw him. Your son?"

The lion lowers his head in what Regina takes as a yes. "I can only help you if you transform back."

He doesn't. Instead he glances to Emma then back to the ground, admittedly less threatening now.

"Mufasa, I can help you." The former Mayor urges quietly, as if it's just the two of them there. Her hands are out in surrender and she takes another step towards the large animal.

Like they're in a gravitational pull, Emma takes a step closer to Regina.

"Emma!" David calls in a low whisper. "Don't!"

"Come back to your human form, Mufasa. You haven't harmed anyone. We can help you. We _will_ help you. You have my word."

It takes a moment and Emma's standing next to Regina now but slowly a ray of blue light illumes around the lion's body and then kneeling before them is a large dark-skinned, naked man.

He reaches out and grabs what's left of his clothes, which is just torn up pants and a shirt. He ties the long-sleeved shirt around his waist and then he stands.

David goes to arrest him, "don't!" Regina flicks him back towards the cruiser by magic and he falls against the hood of the squad car. Graham goes to help him up. "He hasn't hurt anyone."

"He's dangerous!" David shouts, sliding off the car holding the back of his head. "And if you use magic on me one more time-,"

"You'll what? Charm me to death?" Regina laughs mockingly as a ball of fire vaporizes in her palm. "Do not touch this man. I promised to help him."

David pulls his gun from his holster and points it to her. "Is your magic faster than a bullet?"

"Whoa," Emma's standing between the two now facing her father. "David, put that thing away." She's not even sure he's ever had to use it.

"I'm tired of her!" He says then winces at the pain the volume of his own voice inflicts. "This woman has imposed misery and brought about death to innocent people and animals. She doesn't deserve to live her peacefully."

"Do you think this is a walk in the park for me, Charming?" Regina says from over Emma's shoulder. "I am sick of seeing my son look up to you like you're some sort of hero." The last word is spat with absolute disgust.

"I am a hero!" He shouts, taking large steps towards her. "And you are a monster. My daughter should have killed you."

"David," Emma warns. "Think of how Henry would react if he heard you saying these things."

"He would cheer me on from the sidelines." The former King says with so much assurance it makes Emma's own stomach roll violently in realization that Henry _does_ think he wants his mother gone.

Regina's lip curls threateningly and David holds the gun with both of his shaking hands, even with blurry vision his aim is perfect.

The former Queen reaches behind her and touches Mufasa's arm, then suddenly they're both gone and the three law enforcers are left looking dumbfounded.

* * *

At the station, Emma hands an ice pack to her father a little too aggressively. Graham looks at Charming with pity and Emma looks at both of them like she wants to fire them.

"What the hell happened back there?" she finally says, sliding a wooden chair against the floor until it's right in front of David. She sits down in it and removes her gun and badge from her holster then slams them on the table.

David winces at the noises. "I was showing Graham the library and introducing him to Belle. We saw Mufasa running and followed him. When we stopped him he morphed into the lion."

"So you didn't see what he was running after?"

Both men shake their heads shamefully.

"So did you point your gun before or after he morphed?"

Graham looks at David in a way that suggests he's the only one that can actually answer that question.

"Before." David admits quietly. "I didn't know what had happened."

The Sheriff stands angrily and the wooden chair falls loudly to the floor. David and Graham both jump at the sound. "You pulled your gun on an innocent man. That's what happened."

"Emma…" they both start.

"Don't!" She says to Graham. "David, you had your gun on a civilian."

"I didn't know-,"

"That's right!" Her hands palm her desk. "You didn't fucking know! He could have been chasing his damn son or the real perpetrator and you stopped him! You pulled a gun out on him before you could even ask him what the hell was wrong, David. I get you were king in the old land, but here that's the kind of thing that gets innocent people killed. That's how you'll lose a badge you're technically not even supposed to have."

She feels the irony color her face but ignores it. "Regina of all people had the diffuse the situation for us. Do you understand how that's going to go down with everyone? The Evil freaking Queen saved us all from what could have been a huge problem."

"We don't have to tell them," he stands suddenly and drops the ice pack onto his chair. "For all they know she was a part of it. For all _we_ know, she was a part of it."

"I'm telling you, I was with her all-,"

"Yeah about that," he looks at her sternly. Like a strict father would. Emma actually feels a little intimidated. "Do you want to explain to me why you were with her and what you two were doing?"

Emma looks at him appalled and even a little disgusted. "Just what exactly are you accusing me of, David?"

"Sleeping with the enemy?"

Emma's blue eyes narrow at him and he crosses his arms over his chest in a way that suggests he's standing by his accusation and he won't back down.

"Maybe we should just cool it," Graham says finally stepping between them. He puts a hand on David's shoulder but it gets shrugged away. "I'll take you to the hospital. I think you hit your head a little too hard. Emma can go find Mufasa and Regina."

"Stay away from Regina." David instructs, apparently only having heard half of Graham's proposal. "She's up to something."

Emma laughs bitterly and reaches for her coat. "You know what David? You lost the right to tell me what to do when you put me inside a fucking box and shipped me to Maine because you cared more about your kingdom than your damn daughter. I have no clue what the hell is going on with you but Graham's right. You obviously hit your head pretty hard so I suggest you get clearance from a doctor before you return back to work at the station."

He clenches his jaw as he watches her exit the station into the rain.

* * *

Regina doesn't answer the door when Emma goes there. She already has her speech ready which is to yell at her but also apologize for David's behavior. More importantly to convince her that Henry doesn't want her dead.

"She's not here," Mufasa says as he opens the door. Now he's wearing clothes that look like something Graham would have left at Regina's place.

Emma looks over his shoulder into the mansion anyway. "How long as she been gone?"

"Half an hour."

Mufasa is a large African man that looks a lot like his lion counterpart. His hair is long and thick but he keeps it in a ponytail or at least that's the way he has it now. Since the curse broke, he's obviously continued shaving his beard.

Now that she sees him with more clothes on and his hair contained, she remembers seeing him a few times around town before the curse broke. Maliki was the kind of guy that kept to himself. But Mufasa is an entirely different story.

The Sheriff looks at him considerably before shrugging. "Mind if I wait in here with you?"

He shakes his head and lets her in.

The house is warm, not that it's never not been as long as Emma's concerned. The fireplace is going and it smells like Regina has something cooking. Wherever she went, she used magic because the black Mercedes is still in the driveway and looks like it hasn't been moved since Emma saw it this morning.

"Sorry about David," she says to end the uncomfortable silence between them. He's crouching before the fire with his palms stretched towards it. "You probably would have gotten to your son if he hadn't stopped you."

"It's okay," he says as he stands tall and stretches his neck from side to side. "Your father was just doing his job. I was a threat."

"But you weren't." She argues from the couch. It's odd, she thinks. Being in Regina's home without Regina present. Yet, she's not as uncomfortable as she should be. "That's not the kind of thing cops are supposed to do in this land. It happens but it's technically wrong. He should have tried to help you first. David's not like that usually. He's a nice guy and usually he would have tried to help you first before pointing a gun at you."

Mufasa nods in understanding but doesn't say anything for a while. Emma assumes he's just already let it go so she decides she should too. "You're here to check on the Queen." He looks at her.

"Yeah," she doesn't even have to think about lying. "He said something that really hurt her." The way Emma looks at him, it's like she's asking a question.

He nods. Yes, his eyes tell her. She was hurt.

"I wanted her to know he was wrong."

"But was he?" Mufasa sits next to her. "Was he wrong about your son? I see little Henry and he's the same age as my boy…" His words trail off and she loses him to his own thought. His eyes drop in shame but then he looks at her again. "He hates his mother."

"Henry thinks he hates Regina." She dismisses the possibility. "She may have been evil at one point but he knows evil can't love and Regina loves him. That's the only thing he knows for certain in this world. There's still mystery to everything else."

Mufasa leans into the back of the couch and adopts a comfortable position. "Why do you see the good in Queen Regina when not even her own child can?"

Emma doesn't really have an answer for him. There's just something about Regina that seems different since the breaking of the curse. Since they were brought back from the Enchanted Forest, Emma has just seen the difference in Regina.

At first it was hard to accept, just like it is for everyone else. But now…she doesn't have a doubt. Sure, Regina is selfish and manipulative and judgmental and hard to get along with but she isn't a bad person anymore.

She loves her son and someone capable of the amount of love can't be evil. It's just illogical to Emma. She wouldn't be able to wrap her head around it even if it were possible.

So she shrugs like she doesn't know, because she doesn't, but also because she doesn't feel comfortable with not being able to explain it. Because even if she did have the answer, talking about it would probably make her sound like an idiot.

"Where'd you see your son?" she asks to derail his attention.

He frowns. "He was with a fairy."

"Blue?"

He shakes his head hesitantly. "I'm not sure. But I could smell her magic. She had fairy magic. I do not know this Blue fairy but if I smelled her I would recognize her."

Emma takes that into consideration. "Did Regina say where she was going?"

"I told her the same information. I believe she is convinced it was this Blue fairy you refer to."

Regina has a bit of a temper so Emma excuses herself politely and goes to the kitchen and dials Regina's number. The phone rings three times before it's sent to voicemail.

"You've reached Regina Mills-," Emma hangs up and tries it again.

"You've reached Regina Mills. If the manner of-," she hangs up again.

"You've reached Regina Mills. If the manner of your call is regarding-,"

"You've reached-,"

"You've-,"

"_What Miss Swan?!_"

Emma's surprised it's not voicemail so it takes her a moment to answer. "Please tell me you're not interrogating Mother Superior by strangling her?"

"_Oh please_," she can hear Regina's eye roll, she doesn't have to see it. "_I do not always resort to violence much like your father._"

"Can you really blame him?! You threw him against a car!"

"_As much as I like having an account of my actions for the day, Miss Swan. I am in the middle of something so I would ask you get to the point of calling me._"

"Where are you?"

"_How is that any of your business?_"

Emma rolls her eyes impatiently. "Really it's not but I want to know anyway."

"_In case you've forgotten, Sheriff Swan. My mother died three months ago at my hand because of your mother. I don't answer to anyone anymore, least of all you._"

"Drop the fucking attitude, Regina. Where the hell are you?"

"Behind you," Regina says just as the air around Emma thickens and there's an electrical pop in the atmosphere. She turns around and finds the former Mayor standing behind her with her phone to her ear and purple smoke quickly evaporating around her form.

"Where were you?" she demands as she hangs up the phone.

Regina does the same. "That's none of your business." She leaves the kitchen and Mufasa stands at her entrance to the foyer. "I have good news and bad news." She says to him.

"I'll take the bad news first."

"The boy you saw _was_ your son. And the woman you saw him with was the Red fairy. She's the most unpopular of all the fairies."

"What does she want with my boy?" he demands.

"I'm not sure," Regina frowns. "The good news is I know where she's going to be with him tomorrow." They don't see the delightful sparkle in her eye that borders sinfully excited.

"Where?" Emma asks from behind Regina. "I can be there. Arrest her for kidnapping."

"She didn't kidnap him." A distant but familiar voice says. Then the body appears in a ray of white and purple light. Gold stands across from Regina in the middle of her foyer. "She's his mother."

* * *

**A/N**: So I know you might have questions like why was David so irrationally angry today? Um, ok I don't want to spoil anything specific but let's just say it's all a part of Gold's master plan to drive a wedge between Emma and the Charming's to get Neal back. He's using magic to influence David's anger and more of the Charming family behavior. So I know he was out of character but there's an explanation for that.

Also Emma will get to yelling at Regina about attacking David at some point.

I want to see if any of you can actually figure out what's going on so far. I promise you I have a plan and all of this will tie together in the end but can any of you figure it out yet?


	5. Day Four: Part 1

**A/N**: I'll say this now, I've abandoned the chapter for each day approach. Some things can't resolved in one day and one chapter. But you will still hopefully experience each day.

* * *

Emma shifts on her feet with her arms crossed over her chest. Gold looks over Regina's shoulder at her with a smirk before returning his attention to Mufasa. "Your wife Sarabi is alive."

The dark man looks at him with confusion and disbelief and like his entire world has just been shattered. He drops back onto the couch and puts his face into his hands.

Regina's the first to move in the moments after the bombshell has been dropped. The air around them all is thick and Emma can physically feel Regina moving further and further away from her. "What do you mean she's alive?" she says to Gold as she sits next to Mufasa carefully. One hand goes to his back between his shoulders and the other to his left arm.

It's then that Emma realizes Regina's a far more caring person than she wants everyone to believe.

"It seems your brother Scar cared more about your wife than he wanted you to believe," Gold says limping into the living room and standing in front of the childless parents on the couch. "He was in love with your wife, Mufasa. He summoned me with a plan. He wanted your wife and your kingdom. He wanted you dead."

"Then why am I alive?!" Mufasa snaps, lifting his head from his hands but not pushing Regina off of him.

His reaction gets Emma moving to the living room too. She leaves the arch that separates the kitchen and living room.

"Because," the dark one turns to the fire behind his legs. A little too dramatic for Emma's tastes. "He knew that Sarabi could never love after your death. I told him of a curse that would be enacted. One where he could have her for a small price."

"What price?" the Sheriff asks from next to Regina.

"A favor." He answers simply and they all sigh in unison, shameful that they expected any other response.

"What favor?"

"I have yet to collect it." He turns back to them with a gleeful smile that immediately makes Regina scowl with loathe for him. "However, my part of the deal is done. He had twenty-eight years with Sarabi."

"My wife," Mufasa stands abruptly. "My wife is a fairy?"

Gold nods. "Her wings were clipped. As punishment she was turned into a lion. But that, my dear friend, is a story for her to tell you. Regina's curse lifted _that_ curse."

"Where will she be?" he asks Regina. "Tomorrow?"

"She's going to Blue," Regina replies as she stands. She distances herself from the other three. "I believe she wants to leave town with Simba."

Emma thinks for a moment but interrupts whatever Gold is about to say. "She can't. She'll lose her memory. Right?" the last part is directed to Regina.

"I believe she's going to enlist the help of the Blue fairy." Regina explains.

"Who is she?" Mufasa asks weakly, not yet convinced his wife could have been alive this entire time. It must be hard enough to convince himself he even saw his son after believing him dead for so long. It must be inconceivable for him and he's holding himself together is beyond Emma's comprehension. "What's her name?"

"Sara." The former Queen answers, absentmindedly fiddling with her necklace. "Sara Letsel. She's a first grade teacher at Storybrooke Elementary."

"How do you know?" he asks her curiously, almost suspiciously.

"A woman approached my mother and I about her husband. She believed he killed her ex-husband and son and had it arranged so that she would be married to him in my curse. But no one knew what my curse would do but Gold and I. So I dismissed her. I did recognize her from Henry's school, however."

"She believes me dead?" he asks in a heartbroken tone that makes Emma drop her gaze to the fire.

Regina nods, with her lips pressed together. And Emma finally gets it, she pities him.

"I've given all the information I know of." He says, mostly to Regina. She gives him a small nod that only Mufasa misses. Gold leaves just as quickly as he arrived and Emma turns to Regina for an explanation.

The brunette gives her look that says, "Later."

"Mufasa," Regina says loud enough to drag him out of his own thoughts and back to reality. She reaches out and touches his shoulder carefully. "Tomorrow at noon, go to the orphanage. Sarabi will be there to speak with the Blue fairy. Sheriff Swan and I will find your brother and bring him to justice."

His shoulders sag but he nods.

He and Regina are lifted away in a cloud of smoke. Emma scowls at being left behind, knowing that Regina took him alone to tell him something she doesn't the Sheriff to know.

But she's not going to be that easy to get rid of so Emma goes back to the kitchen, where she smells the delicious and forgotten dinner.

Now that she's alone in Regina's house a feeling of dread seeps to her bones and crawls up her spine until she feels crippled with emptiness and misery. The house feels cursed, Emma thinks. The walls look like they're moving far away and yet she feels like she's trapped in a box.

The house is large and empty and she wonders how Regina manages not to lose her damn mind in this place.

She's pulled out of her stultifying thoughts when she hears the sound of something hitting the floor from the living room. Emma turns the stove off then goes back to the foyer, with caution. From the arch she sees Regina remove her other shoe and it hits the floor with the same thud as the other woman.

She lays on the couch with her eyes closed and her hands laced together over her abdomen. She looks tired from where Emma's standing. She's certain if she stepped any closer, Regina would still look equally if not more tired.

The fire crackles softly and the former Mayor hums a tune Emma recognizes but can't quite pinpoint.

She feels almost guilty but she clears her throat.

Regina's eyes snap open and she looks at Emma like she's a threat. "What are you still doing here?!" she nearly screeches as she scrambles off the couch.

"You uh," Emma uses the large spoon in her hand to point over her shoulder. "Forgot about the dinner you were cooking…" She shrugs lamely, not entirely proud of the reason. It is a reason she stayed behind. Also because she wanted to know more about that nod between her and Gold.

Mostly because she doesn't to go home.

She doesn't want to face David yet.

It's obvious to Emma Regina's just remembering the food but she adopts an intimidating stance that has the usual; the narrow eyes, the clenched jaw, and the arms over her chest. "I could have handled it, Miss Swan. Surely that's no reason to scare someone half to death in their own home."

"Oh calm down," the blonde goes back to the kitchen. She hears Regina's feet padding the floor behind her. "I didn't mean to scare you. Just figured you were hungry."

"Well, thank you very much." It's not nearly as sarcastic as the brunette hoped it'd sound. "I can take it from here."

"You're not going to ask me to stay? Considering it'd all be burned by now if it weren't for me?"

Regina's tongue clicks in her mouth but she finally nods towards the cupboard full of plates.

Dinner is an awkward affair at first but then Emma jumps into questioning with both feet. "So why didn't you help Sarabi at first?" she asks like she's asking about Regina's day.

The former Mayor pauses for a moment, clearly irked, and then takes a bite of the pasta. "Because I thought she was foolish." It's the only explanation she's getting, Emma realizes.

"Okay," she accepts that reasoning as she swallows down her water. She places the glass back on the table carefully. "Why'd Gold come here?"

Regina is thoughtfully quiet. She busies herself by eating but it's obvious to the Sheriff that she's coming up with a lie. "I don't know." She finally says, tired of putting effort into anything at this point. It's been a long day and she just wants to go to bed.

"Yes you do," Emma says.

"I went to Blue." Regina sighs. "She told me of a woman that had an abusive husband and had just reconnected with her son after the curse was broken. I assumed Gold knew more about that so I went to him. Turns out he knew more than he was letting on at his shop."

"Why'd he decide to help you?"

Regina half-shrugs. "I think he wants me to owe him another favor."

Emma's left brow quirks suspiciously. "Another?"

"That's none of your business, Miss Swan." She responds with a bored tone.

She knows it's not proper etiquette, hey she never got the chance to be raised a princess because of this woman, but Emma puts her elbows on the table. With her fingers laced together she rests her chin on them.

"If it endangers this town, it's kind of my business."

Regina smiles at the vague threat. She sips her ice water slowly then puts it back onto the table. "Miss Swan," she removes the cloth napkin from her lap and folds it expertly.

"I assure you, the business I have with Mr. Gold does not endanger this town. But believe me, if it did the badge at your waist is an inheritance from _my_ curse. The law in Storybrooke cannot _touch_ me. You can go around waving your gun and badge at everyone, but where I'm from? It means _nothing_. It won't take very long until you realize the same thing, dear."

She smiles confidently.

Emma breathes deeply before nodding. "We'll see." She just says before standing. She takes both of their plates and carries them into the kitchen. Regina doesn't question her, in fact – she stays at the table deep in thought for a moment.

The Sheriff begins washing the dishes when Regina finally joins her. Together in silence, they clean the pots and plates. Together they dry them off.

Not a word is spoken until Emma's leaning against the threshold of the front door and Regina's standing with her arms over her chest, which Emma has learned is a defense mechanism for when the former Mayor feels vulnerable. They're only a foot apart and it's the closest they've been without trying to kill each other but neither of them comments on that.

"Why'd you help him?" Emma finally asks. "Why'd you help Mufasa?"

"Are you sure you want to know that answer, Sheriff?"

The blonde looks thoughtful for a moment but finally nods.

"Because," Regina's arms tighten around her body. "I know what it feels like to have your child taken away from you." The cold air makes her shiver, or maybe it's the confession. Emma doesn't think she'll ever really know. But the wind blows Regina's hair into her face and the brunette doesn't bother to move it.

So desperately Emma wants to. That thought alone scares her. "I didn't take-,"

"You did." She interrupts, in a concrete tone. Usually when she talks to Emma there's a reserve to her voice like they can't be friendly at all. She wants Emma to know her place in Regina's life. The enemy. But lately, she's been talking to her like she might just be something higher on the list.

Emma's not exactly sure what the hell she is to Regina aside from Henry's birth mother and the woman that took her son from her but she hopes she can convince the former Queen she's not the latter.

"This house," Regina gestures behind her. "It's large and empty. Sometimes I think I can hear my thoughts echo. And they tell me I'm alone. I walk past Henry's bedroom every morning and each day the memory of him fades just enough for the pain to feel fresh."

"You don't think you took him from me because you don't know what it feels like to have Henry's love taken away from you so suddenly. You don't know what it feels like to have him ignore your phone calls and tell you he hates you. Perhaps you didn't take him away purposely but it was done. The minute you answered your door to him, he no longer loved me."

"Regina, I-," Emma straightens.

She lifts a hand and puts it firmly on the blonde's chest. "Don't." She shoves her back gently enough so that she's standing on the other side of the threshold. "Just don't."

The door closes in Emma's face with a soft snick. She hears the deadbolt roll over and click and her forehead falls against the cold timber.

She never thought about it that way, really. Part of her always just assumed, and secretly hoped, Regina didn't miss Henry as much as she claimed. That one day Regina would stop blaming everyone else for Henry's decision to go with her and just reach out and attempt to start a relationship with Emma that could open the doors Henry closed on theirs.

She just hoped she wouldn't have to really understand what Regina meant.

She thought she was saving Henry. She thought since she was his savior she was taking him from an unloving and reserved mother and giving him chocolate and sweets and horror movies and the Avengers and love. She thought if she gave all those things to him she could ignore the nagging feeling inside her that told her he was more Regina's son than hers and she'd taken a child away from his mother just because she wanted to be the good guy in her own story for once.

* * *

_Day Four:_

"I stared a lion in the face and the only thing I could think about was protecting the woman that ruined my life." Emma says, to herself, to the ceiling, to Archie, to Pongo. To anyone and anything that will listen. "How fucked up is that?"

"You're not a very vindictive person, Emma." Archie says with his Ph.D. voice that Emma tries not to mock because technically it's fake and he doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. "You saw a woman in possible danger and wanted to help her."

"Yeah but this woman is evil, Archie."

He shifts uncomfortably in his seat at having to talk about one of his patients. "You said yourself that Regina isn't an evil woman anymore."

"I did say that earlier didn't I?" she plays with her necklace. "Why did I say that?"

"Because you weren't afraid that you might be developing less than malevolent feelings for the former Evil Queen and Henry's adoptive mother." He has a way of saying things as just a guess but really he believes them as fact and it's kind of annoyingly obvious. "Regina _was_ a very vile woman. Forgiving her does not mean you have to like everything she has done. It means you care about her anyway."

"I don't want to care about her." She says a little childishly. "Okay, obviously I'm tired of fighting over everything but the woman cursed my parents. I grew up thinking they didn't want me. How could I possibly love her? What the hell does that say about me?"

Archie clears his throat. "Love her?"

Emma sits up suddenly and looks at him with wide eyes. "Did I say love her?"

He nods awkwardly.

"I mean like I love Ruby. She's a good friend."

"Sure," he smiles. "I love Marco. He's a very good friend to me."

"Exactly." She says then sits completely still as the realization dawns on her. She slouches. "Shit. Archie am I developing feelings for my son's adoptive mother?"

"I think what you really want to know is; are you developing feelings for the woman that ruined your childhood."

Emma slaps her hand over her face. "This can't be happening to me," she groans as she scrubs her face.

"It is and it'll only deteriorate unless we can figure out how to deal with this."

She sends him an intimidating glare. "If you suggest I tell her how I feel I swear to god I'll shove that pen you love writing with so far up your ass you'll taste the ink, Archie."

He clears his throat frightfully as the pen clicks once. He tucks it into his shirt pocket. "It would be healthy to come clean eventually."

She deadpans. "To Regina? Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Well I didn't say this would be easy."

* * *

Emma's made a cocoon of her arms on her desk and her head fits perfectly in it where she can sulk and pretend she doesn't have feelings for basically the most hated woman in town. A town that said woman created just so she could have a happy ending.

The Sheriff snorts. Some happy ending. A son that hates her guts and a town of people that want her dead.

She pulls her head from her desk when she smells the familiar scent of hot chocolate from Granny's. David's standing in front of her desk with a white paper bag folded at the tip and a cup of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and an apologetic smile on his face.

"I come bearing peace offerings?" he says with a half-shrug that she now realizes she gets from him. She wonders if it looks as pathetic when she does it.

Emma wants to tell him to fuck off but she wants hot chocolate. It's the only way she thinks she'll be able to manage dealing with Regina today. "Sure," she says kicking the chair on the other side of the desk out and he takes it happily.

The Sheriff sips the hot chocolate first then opens the bag. It's filled with an assortment of donuts.

"I'm sorry about yesterday." David says, twiddling his thumbs noticeably on the desk, as she reaches elbow deep into the bag. She pulls out a bear claw. "For what I did to Maliki and what I said to you."

She looks at him and she doesn't get a vibe like he's lying so she shrugs. "Water under the bridge."

He looks hesitant to let it go that easily but decides it'll come up again eventually when Emma's drunk and he can try to deal with it then when she's more willing to open up to him. "So Dr. Whale cleared me. Can I come back to work?"

She fishes out the badge in her desk drawer and hands it to him. He smiles happily.

A throat is cleared from a few feet away. "Is Graham here?" Regina asks with one hand on her hip and the other holding her purse.

Today, Emma notices, she looks more regal than yesterday with a slimming little black dress and a dark purple coat.

"Yeah...he's in the back." She stands to meet the other woman but Regina stops her with a raised palm.

"Thank you." Is all she says before she walks to the back.

"Mufasa's wife is alive." Emma says, trying to ignore the annoying feeling of irrational jealousy and even rejection. Besides, she figures she should catch David up to speed with everything. "Sara Letsel?"

"Yeah yeah," he says remembering her. "She was friends with Kathryn. She was married to…Broden Letsel. Big guy. Kind of an asshole if you ask me. Never appreciated her."

Emma shrugs. "Yeah well he's Scar."

"Makes sense." David says, biting into a powdered donut. "He seemed like he was in a race with someone and he had to win, during the curse. He had a big rivalry with his brother but when he gained control of their kingdom we all assumed he wasn't a threat anymore."

She types the name in their database it the computer groans loudly at having to do work. In that time, Emma pretends like she's chewing and focusing on her computer screen. But really she's trying to listen for what's going on in the back.

It's hard to hear anything over David's loud chewing however.

"Broden Letsel," she reads aloud. "Got arrested a few times for domestic disputes. Neighbors said he got too loud and seemed dangerous. Had a bit of a violent streak. Smashed the windows of wife's car?"

The Deputy turns the monitor to him and reads the words for himself. "Never heard about that. They were pretty private about their marriage. We had them over a few times but mostly because it seemed like he didn't want her to go anywhere without him."

Emma frowns. "No wonder she wants to get away from him."

"Hmm?"

When Regina struts from the back Emma waves her hand like she'll fill him in later. Graham follows behind her.

"Are we going to find Scar?" Emma asks, a little too hopeful.

"Actually," Regina rubs the back of her neck uncharacteristically. "Perhaps you and David can work on that if he can manage control of his temper for five minutes. Graham and I have something else to take care of."

David rolls his eyes but Emma ignores the crack completely. "Does it have anything to do with Mufasa?"

"Yes."

"Okay…" she lets the word linger as her eyes flicker to Graham who only looks at her like he always does. "Well I'll call you around noon? We can fill each other in on our progress."

"Sounds like a plan to me, Sheriff." But she's already out the door before Emma can say anything else.

She looks at Graham who only shrugs, just as clueless as she is.

Now she wishes she could kick herself in the ass. Regina opened up to her last night. How did she not expect something like this would happen? Regina's not naturally an open person. She felt vulnerable and she's closed herself off to Emma even more so than before. It's like after the whole Archie thing.

It was hard to get Regina to say two words to her that weren't malicious. When she finally did, it came as a shock to her most of all.

Three days of spending a lot of time together sure did make it easy for Emma to forget that not even a week ago Regina Mills hated her fucking guts.

* * *

They check Sarabi and Scar's apartment first. It looks pristinely clean but otherwise like it hasn't been occupied since the curse broke or at least a couple of months ago. David's using gloves for some reason but Emma doesn't think they even have a forensics lab anymore, let alone workers.

"Where do you think he is?" David asks from the kitchen while Emma goes through their mail in the dining room. They have a lot of unpaid bills.

"Honestly? I have no freaking idea. As weird as things have been these last few days, I wouldn't be surprised if he went to forest."

"If you think he's there then why are we looking here?"

She leans down at the empty yet expensive fish tank. "I think that's where Regina took Graham." She says, not really focusing on her conversation with David anymore. "The fish are gone."

"What?"

"The fish." She taps on the glass. "It's full of water and the filter is working but there are no fish in here."

He stands next to her. "What happened to them?"

Emma gives him an annoyed look. "I'm starting to get the impression you think I know everything."

He smiles sheepishly. "Sorry. We should figure that out."

"Well it's not like there's-," she's interrupted by the buzz of her cell phone in her pocket. She pulls it out. "Regina?"

"Mufasa is worried about Sarabi. He says she didn't show up to the orphanage." Her voice is shaky like she's walking fast or running.

"Where is she?"

The former Mayor emits an annoyed noise on the line. "I don't know, Miss Swan."

Emma ignores it. "Where are you then?"

"With Graham. We're- Oh for God's sakes," suddenly Emma's standing across from Regina. "I do not like phone conversations." She explains irritably.

They're standing just outside Gold's shop now.

"I don't appreciate being transported through your magic, Regina." David says, adjusting his coat.

She rolls her eyes. "Well unfortunately you were standing too close to Miss Swan. I only wanted her here."

"How about we go in here alone?" Emma suggests. "You two can go back to the orphanage to talk to the Blue fairy. See if she knows anything about why Sarabi didn't show up."

Graham nods but David looks disgusted and reluctant to leave her alone with the former Queen.

"I'll be fine." She promises.

"If anything happens to my daughter I'm coming for your head." He says to Regina.

She looks at him with a bored expression, barely even acknowledging his threat.

"Hey," Emma says as the two men run in the other direction towards town. "Are you okay?"

Regina opens the door to the shop. "Define okay," she responds, not bothering to hold the door open for Emma.

"Last night-,"

"I don't want to talk about last night."

Emma frowns. "You can trust me, Regina."

The brunette laughs at that notion and Emma tries to ignore the stab of pain in her chest at being laughed at. "The last time I trusted a Charming my mother ended up dead in my arms. I think we both know your family and I cannot trust each other."

"Henry's part of my family," Emma reasons, though not exactly certain if that was the right thing to say. "Are you saying you can't trust him?"

"Well he has tricked me several times." She says touching a dreamcatcher. "However, unfortunately his manipulation is an inheritance from me." Her hand falls on the bell that signals a customer and that's the end of the conversation for Regina.

Belle comes out from back instead of Gold.

"Hey," she says mostly to Emma with a friendly smile. "What are you doing here?"

"We need to speak with Gold." Regina answers rather seriously, not in the mood to be ignored for side-chatter. "Where is he?"

Belle's smile falls remarkably fast. "He's not here." She responds.

Regina shifts on her feet impatiently. "Do you know where he is?"

"He said something about the Blue fairy?" Belle's words fumble at her inability to recall the memory correctly. "I don't really remember."

Regina nods once then leaves the shop with Emma in tow.

"You think he told Scar about Sarabi's plan?" Emma asks as they stop walking. Mostly because neither of them really know what to do at this point.

"I wouldn't put it past him." Regina mumbles.

"But what would he want with Blue?"

Getting into Gold's mind isn't always easy for Regina. Though he taught her most of what he knows, and Regina got a sense of how he thinks along the way, it's still exhausting and tricky to get into his mindset and view the world the way he sees it.

Everything is so intricately entangled that trying to expurgate it all is draining.

"Blue is Sarabi's sister." Regina says, tactically. "Together they are very powerful. If one of them leaves town, Gold misses out on an opportunity to abuse their magic for his personal gain. There must be something he wants that they can do for him. Fairy magic is far more different than our magic. It's not exactly more powerful but there are things they can do that Gold and I cannot."

"What's something he wants?"

Regina knows what Gold wants but what that has to do with a family of lions and fairies is beyond her. "I'm not sure," it's not exactly a lie so she doesn't exactly feel guilty and it seems Emma buys it.

"Where do you think he'll be?" the Sheriff is pulling out her phone.

"I don't know. It's not like Gold and I communicate our whereabouts."

Emma rolls her eyes at Regina's incessant need to be difficult. "David? Did you find anything out from Blue?" she puts him on speaker.

"She's Sarabi's sister."

"Already knew that." Emma says, cutting off Regina's smart reply. "Can you give us something more? Apparently Gold was more involved in this than he let on."

He sounds like he's running when he responds. "Apparently Blue helped Sarabi find Simba. He was cursed with two men. Timone and Pumba?"

"Are you freaking kidding me?"

"Not the time Miss Swan."

"Anyways, Graham and I are at their place right now. See if we can-," He stops suddenly.

Emma pulls the phone to her ear. "David? What's wrong?"

"You're not going to believe this." He responds shortly.

"What?"

Her phone buzzes in her ear and she pulls it away. There's a picture message from David. She hangs up with him to open it and inside there's a photo of two dead men. One skinny and short the other only slightly taller and overweight.

What she really notices is their faces have been clawed.

"They're dead." Emma breathes aloud.

Regina takes the phone from her and inspects the bodies in the photo. "Timone and Pumba," she identifies quietly. "Those are the men Simba was cursed with."

* * *

The former queen drops down onto her couch resignedly with a loud "umph" echoing her fall. She hears footsteps coming from the kitchen as Emma returns with a glass of water for her.

"Thank you," she says sitting up only slightly. She brings the water to her lips and takes a measured sip.

"Does magic always do this to you?" Emma asks curiously as she brings Regina's legs to rest on her thighs. The movement was secondhand and she didn't really think about it but neither women commented on it either, choosing to ignore how homely and comfortable it felt.

The brunette shakes her head as she places the glass on the coffee table. She lies back down and relaxes. "Magic feeds off emotion. Mine feeds off my rage. However, I don't have as much as I once did so now it's feeding from my energy."

"So let's say you felt something other than rage-,"

"It doesn't work," Regina says from the other side of the couch. "Gold only taught me to perform magic from my rage. I've tried to let my love for Henry fuel it but I don't know how."

Emma nods in understanding then there's a short silence between them before she looks at the seemingly sleeping queen. "I didn't mean to take Henry from you."

"Miss Swan." Regina warns.

"No no, I listened to you last night so now you have to listen to me," she adjusts herself until she's facing the other woman. "I thought I was saving him. I know you loved him and you never intentionally harmed him but you were the Evil Queen, Regina. I thought I was protecting him. He wanted to come with me and I thought if I let him it'd make up for abandoning him. I thought if I could save him from you I could forgive myself for giving my son away. I thought I could put it off as I was saving him from the mistake I made that led him to you but you weren't the mistake. You saved him. You saved everyone. I think you had more to do with your curse breaking than any of us."

"I realize now that you feel what I felt the night Henry was born. He didn't love me yet so I don't know what it feels like to have his love taken away but I know what it feels like to watch as he's taken away from you and all you want to do is hold him. I know what that feels like and I know the misery you feel. I don't know why I didn't see it before. I guess it was easier to ignore when I thought you didn't have a soul. And the whole thing with your mom happened-,"

Regina tenses and Emma feels it in her legs.

"I'm sorry about that. I just realize that she was only able to persuade you to work with her because I found it easier to prove your guiltiness than your innocence. She offered you a future that I could have given you. She offered you a relationship with your son and I could try harder to show Henry you've changed. I could but I liked being the good guy in a story for once. I should have believed you. I _wanted_ to believe you. But I wanted my parents to be right so I didn't have to face the fact that you are human and you feel just as much as me. And that all this time _you've_ been the good mother and I've been the deadbeat. I've been the poison in his life."

"And you opened up to me last night. I know I didn't respond the way you wanted and I probably never will because let's face it, I am an idiot. I guess I was so caught off guard by the realization that _you_ were right. You opened up to me and I know it was hard and I know you feel vulnerable now but Regina I think you're so fucking brave for telling me how you feel. I can't help you- I can't fix what I do unless you tell me. We can't continue like we hate each other because it makes sense to. We both know there's something here that you don't feel for everyone else in town. And you're the only person I can connect with. In order to build a healthy friendship, we're going to need honesty. Like you telling me when I've hurt you."

"So…I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry I took our son away from you Regina." She says the words with such sincerity that even Regina can't pawn them off as insincere. Brown eyes meet blue and both women sink deeper into the abyss of disarraying emotions that is their lives.

The apology only makes her disdain for Emma that more confusing. It's harder to hate her and want to leave the town she created. And she refuses to allow herself to be persuaded into staying, even if Emma doesn't know that's what she's doing. She knows that Regina's slowly slipping away – emotionally and physically. And she's grasping to catch her and hold her steady and keep her in the present. In the reality of their universe that Henry does love her and she can be a better person.

But Regina doesn't want that. She wants to give up for once in her life. She wants to be the one that walks away and isn't walked away from.


End file.
